In a home game last Tuesday, the Cowgirls defeated Algona 42-26 in NCC action. They held a slim 21-17 halftime lead, but were able to stretch that to slowly pull away over the second half. The team finished at 38.3 percent from the field and 45.5 percent at the line. They had 26 total rebounds (21 defensively), 13 total assists, 12 total steals and three total blocked shots.
“It was senior night and our fourth game in five nights,” stated head coach Liz Ennis. “I think we had tired legs and could have had some emotions running high. It’s hard on senior night to come out and play your last regular season home game when the celebration occurs right before your game. It would have been better to have it during the boys halftime. Nonetheless, we still needed to come out and play against an improved Algona team.”
Morgan Middleton had a great night in finishing with 15 points on 7 of 9 from the field. Raven Kinnetz was next with eight, followed by Emma Conlon, Kendall Lienemann and Lexie Lane all at five points each. Jadyn Jondle and Summer Traub chipped in two points apiece. Middleton also cleaned the glass for six rebounds, followed by Lane with five and Alaina Friesleben with four. Kinnetz and Lienemann grabbed three caroms each Jondle two, with Nicole Waters, Conlon and Emma Keller all having one each.
Kinnetz and Lienemann dished out four assists each, with Lane credited with two and Conlon, Middleton and Nikki Kapka all one apiece. Kinnetz used her quickness on defense for six steals, with Lienemann in on four and Lane two. Middleton added two blocked shots and Lane one to their final stat lines.
“Raven got some quick steals in the first quarter, but some of our shots fell short,” said Ennis. “Algona hit a couple three’s in that first quarter and we couldn’t shake loose from them. They hung around at the half, so we came out the second half and pushed the ball up court at times and fed Morgan in the post pretty well. Though Alaina did not score, she helped in rebounding and took charge in te second half. This was one of the few games that we got outrebounded. Algona was busy on the defensive boards (26), and did not want to give us any second chance shots. I was pleased with our low turnover rate, just nine for the game. To go 4-0 through this series of back to back games was tough and I was proud of the girls for playing strong.”
The night before this one, they hosted West Hancock and won 69-48 over the Eagles. It was 38-24 Cowgirls at the break. The team shot 59.6 percent from the field, 64.3 percent from the charity stripe and 57.1 percent from three-point land. They had 35 total rebounds (29 defensively), 22 total assists, 17 total steals and one blocked shot.
“We jumped out to a great start against a ninth rated (2A) team,” said Ennis. “This was our third game in four nights, so I wasn’t sure how we would respond and especially after our big Saturday morning win over Humboldt. Our players were determined to beat this team. We played great defense and moved the ball really well on offense. We pushed the tempo of the game and best the Eagles down the floor quite a bit.”
Kinnetz drained 27 points through the rims on 10 of 16 from the field and two treys. Middleton finished with 17 points on a red-hot 7 of 8, while Lane joined them in double-digits at 10 points with two treys as well. Lienemann and Keller added six points each, Friesleben two points and Conlon one point to the total. Lane had a double-double in grabbing 13 rebounds, all on defense. Lienemann and Middleton made five each and Keller four. Kinnetz and Friesleben finished with three and Conlon two.
Kinnetz dished the pumpkin for eight assists, followed by Waters with five, Friesleben with three and Lienemann with two. Lane, Middleton, Conlon and Keller all had one assist each. Kinnetz picked off nine steals, followed by Lane, Middleton and Waters at two each. Lienemann and Conlon were credited with one each. Middleton had a blocked shot.
“Our defense was set to where Raven was able to get those steals, and she had 18 deflections which means she was creating havoc for the other team’s passers out front. Since we’ve adjusted our defense, we also have put the bottom weakside player in a positin to get a lot of rebounds. It happened to be Lexie’s night in this one. Raven had a great night both on offense and defense. Morgan stepped up her post play as well, and Lexie and Kendall had nice nights on offense. Keller scored and gave us some good defense. Though Nicole did not score, she had offensive assists, steals and three deflections. We shot the ball well as a team.”
